Liquid ejecting apparatus and circuit substrate

ABSTRACT

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a drive element, and a drive circuit that outputs a drive signal that drives the drive element, wherein the drive circuit includes a modulation circuit that modulates a base drive signal to output a modulation signal, an amplifier circuit that amplifies the modulation signal to output an amplified modulation signal, a demodulation circuit that demodulates the amplified modulation signal to output the drive signal, and a substrate on which the modulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuit are provided, wherein the substrate includes a base material includes a metal and a first layer laminated on the base material, wherein the first layer includes a first propagation wire through which at least one of the amplified modulation signal and the drive signal propagates, and wherein the base material has a thickness greater than a thickness of the first layer.

The present application is based on, and claims priority from JPApplication Serial Number 2019-235896, filed Dec. 26, 2019, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus and acircuit substrate.

2. Related Art

An ink jet printer that prints an image or a document on a medium byejecting ink as a liquid is known in which a piezoelectric element suchas a piezo element is used. The piezoelectric element is providedcorresponding to each of the plurality of nozzles in the head unit. Apredetermined amount of ink is ejected from the corresponding nozzle ata predetermined timing by driving each of the piezoelectric elements inaccordance with the drive signal. As a result, dots are formed on themedium. Such a piezoelectric element is electrically a capacitive load,such as a capacitor, and therefore, it is necessary to supply asufficient current to operate the piezoelectric element corresponding toeach nozzle.

In order to supply a sufficient current for operating the piezoelectricelement, as a drive circuit, an amplifier circuit that amplifies thesupplied original signal to output the amplified signal as a drivesignal is used. Such an amplifier circuit may be a class A amplifiercircuit, a class B amplifier circuit, a class AB amplifier circuit, orthe like, but from the viewpoint of power consumption reduction inrecent years, in some cases, a class D amplifier circuit that issuperior in energy conversion efficiency to the class A amplifiercircuit, the class B amplifier circuit, and the class AB amplifiercircuit is used.

For example, JP-A-2018-158488 discloses a liquid ejecting apparatusincluding a class D amplifier circuit as a drive circuit that generatesa drive signal for driving a piezoelectric element.

In recent years, the liquid ejecting apparatus has an increasing numberof nozzles included in a print head from the viewpoint of improvingprint quality and printing speed. Therefore, the amount of current basedon the drive signal output by the drive circuit included in the liquidejecting apparatus increases, and as a result, heat generation of thedrive circuit increases. The heat generated in such a drive circuit maycause characteristic deterioration of components consisting of the drivecircuit or malfunction of the drive circuit due to the characteristicdeterioration. That is, there is room for improvement in terms ofefficiently releasing the heat generated in the drive circuit.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a liquid ejectingapparatus includes a liquid ejection head including a drive element,where the liquid ejection head ejects a liquid by a supply of a drivesignal to the drive element, and a drive circuit that outputs the drivesignal, wherein the drive circuit includes a modulation circuit thatmodulates a base drive signal to output a modulation signal, anamplifier circuit that amplifies the modulation signal to output anamplified modulation signal, a demodulation circuit that demodulates theamplified modulation signal to output the drive signal, and a substrateon which the modulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and thedemodulation circuit are provided, wherein the substrate includes a basematerial and a first layer laminated on a first face of the basematerial, wherein the base material includes a metal, wherein the firstlayer includes a first propagation wire through which at least one ofthe amplified modulation signal and the drive signal propagates, andwherein the base material has a thickness greater than a thickness ofthe first layer.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a circuitsubstrate includes a modulation circuit that modulates a base drivesignal to output a modulation signal, an amplifier circuit thatamplifies the modulation signal to output an amplified modulationsignal, a demodulation circuit that demodulates the amplified modulationsignal to output the drive signal, and a substrate on which themodulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuitare provided, wherein the substrate includes a base material and a firstlayer laminated on a first face of the base material, wherein the basematerial includes a metal, wherein the first layer includes a firstpropagation wire through which at least one of the amplified modulationsignal and the drive signal propagates, and wherein the base materialhas a thickness greater than a thickness of the first layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the insideof a liquid ejecting apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a liquidejecting apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of one ofejection units.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of waveforms of drivesignals COMA and COMB.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of waveforms of a drivesignal VOUT.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a selection controlcircuit and a selection circuit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the decoding contents in a decoder.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a selection circuit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the selection controlcircuit and the selection circuit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a drivesignal output circuit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the waveforms of a voltage signal Asand a modulation signal Ms in association with the waveform of an analogbase drive signal aA.

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a drive circuitsubstrate.

FIG. 13 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a drive signaloutput circuit substrate.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a wiringsubstrate.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a cross section of the drive circuitsubstrate and the drive signal output circuit substrate taken along lineXV-XV shown in FIG. 12 .

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a wiringsubstrate according to a second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. The drawings used are forconvenience of explanation. The embodiments described below do notunduly limit the details of the present disclosure described in theclaims. In addition, all of the configurations described below are notnecessarily essential components of the disclosure.

1. First Embodiment

1.1 Configuration of Liquid Ejecting Apparatus

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the inside of aliquid ejecting apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. The liquidejecting apparatus 1 is an ink jet printer in which the ink as anexample of a liquid is ejected in accordance with image data suppliedfrom a host computer provided outside to form dots on a medium P such aspaper, thereby printing an image according to the supplied image data.In FIG. 1 , some of the components of the liquid ejecting apparatus 1such as a housing and a cover are not shown.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 includes a movementmechanism 3 that moves a head unit 2 in the main scanning direction. Themovement mechanism 3 includes a carriage motor 31 serving as the drivingsource of the head unit 2, a carriage guide shaft 32 having both endsfixed, a timing belt 33 extending substantially parallel to the carriageguide shaft 32 and driven by the carriage motor 31. The movementmechanism 3 includes a linear encoder 90 that detects the position ofthe head unit 2 in the main scanning direction.

A carriage 24 of the head unit 2 is configured so that a predeterminednumber of ink cartridges 22 can be mounted thereon. The carriage 24 isreciprocably supported by the carriage guide shaft 32 and is fixed to aportion of the timing belt 33. Therefore, the carriage 24 of the headunit 2 is guided by the carriage guide shaft 32 and reciprocates whenthe carriage motor 31 causes the timing belt 33 to travel forward andbackward. That is, the carriage motor 31 moves the carriage 24 in themain scanning direction. A print head 20 is attached to a portion, ofthe carriage 24, facing the medium P. As will be described later, theprint head 20 includes a large number of nozzles, and ejects apredetermined amount of ink from each nozzle at a predetermined timing.Various control signals are supplied to the head unit 2 operating asdescribed above via a cable 190 such as a flexible flat cable.

The liquid ejecting apparatus 1 includes a transport mechanism 4 thattransports the medium P in the sub scanning direction. The transportmechanism 4 includes a platen 43 that supports the medium P, a transportmotor 41 that is a driving source, and a transport roller 42 that isrotated by the transport motor 41 and transports a medium P in the subscanning direction. In a state where the medium P is supported by theplaten 43, the ink is ejected from the print head 20 onto the medium Paccording to the timing at which the medium P is transported by thetransport mechanism 4, so that a desired image is formed on the surfaceof the medium P.

A home position serving as a base point of the head unit 2 is set in anend region within the movement range of the carriage 24 included in thehead unit 2. A capping member 70 that seals the nozzle formation face ofthe print head 20 and a wiper member 71 that wipes the nozzle formationface are disposed at the home position. The liquid ejecting apparatus 1forms an image on the surface of the medium P bidirectionally when thecarriage 24 moves forward toward the end opposite the home position, andwhen the carriage 24 moves backward from the opposite end toward thehome position.

A flushing box 72 that collects the ink ejected from the print head 20during a flushing operation is provided at the end of the platen 43 inthe main scanning direction, and at the end opposite the home positionfrom which the carriage 24 moves. The flushing operation is an operationof forcibly ejecting the ink from each nozzle regardless of the imagedata in order to prevent the possibility that the proper amount of inkwill not be ejected due to the nozzle clogging because of thickening ofthe ink near the nozzle, the air bubbles mixed in the nozzle, and thelike. Note that the flushing boxes 72 may be provided on both sides ofthe platen 43 in the main scanning direction.

1.2 Electrical Configuration of Liquid Ejecting Apparatus

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of theliquid ejecting apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 2 , the liquid ejectingapparatus 1 includes a control unit 10 and the head unit 2. The controlunit 10 and the head unit 2 are electrically coupled to each other viathe cable 190.

The control unit 10 includes a control circuit 100, a carriage motordriver 35, a transport motor driver 45, and a voltage output circuit110. The control circuit 100 generates various control signalcorresponding to the image data supplied from the host computer tooutput the generated control signal to a corresponding configuration.

Specifically, the control circuit 100 grasps the current scanningposition of the head unit 2 based on the detection signal of the linearencoder 90. The control circuit 100 generates control signals CTR1 andCTR2 corresponding to the current scanning position of the head unit 2.The control signal CTR1 is supplied to the carriage motor driver 35. Thecarriage motor driver 35 drives the carriage motor 31 according to theinput control signal CTR1. Further, the control signal CTR2 is suppliedto the transport motor driver 45. The transport motor driver 45 drivesthe transport motor 41 according to the input control signal CTR2. As aresult, the movement of the carriage 24 in the main scanning directionand the transport of the medium P in the sub scanning direction arecontrolled.

In addition, the control circuit 100 generates, based on image datasupplied from an externally provided host computer and a detectionsignal of the linear encoder 90, a clock signal SCK, a print data signalSI, a latch signal LAT, a change signal CH, and base drive signals dAand dB corresponding to the current scanning position of the head unit 2to output the generated signals to head unit 2.

Further, the control circuit 100 causes a maintenance unit 80 to performa maintenance process of restoring the ink ejection state of an ejectionunit 600 to a normal state. The maintenance unit 80 includes a cleaningmechanism 81 and a wiping mechanism 82. The cleaning mechanism 81performs, as a maintenance process, a pumping process for suckingthickened ink, air bubbles, and the like stored in the ejection unit 600with a tube pump (not shown). Further, the wiping mechanism 82 performs,as a maintenance process, a wiping process of wiping foreign matter suchas paper dust attached to the vicinity of the nozzle of the ejectionunit 600 with the wiper member 71. The control circuit 100 may performthe above-described flushing operation as a maintenance process ofrestoring the ink ejection state of the ejection unit 600 to a normalstate.

The voltage output circuit 110 generates a voltage VHV of a DC voltageof, for example, 42 V to output it to the head unit 2. The voltage VHVis used as a power supply voltage for various configurations of the headunit 2. Further, the voltage VHV generated by the voltage output circuit110 may be used as a power supply voltage for various configurations ofthe control unit 10. Furthermore, the voltage output circuit 110 maygenerate a plurality of DC voltage signals having different voltagevalues from the voltage VHV and supply the generated DC voltage signalsto the components included in the control unit 10 and the head unit 2.

The head unit 2 includes a drive circuit 50 and the print head 20.

The drive circuit 50 includes drive signal output circuits 51 a and 51b. A digital base drive signal dA and the voltage VHV are input to thedrive signal output circuit 51 a. The drive signal output circuit 51 agenerates a drive signal COMA by digital-to-analog converting the inputbase drive signal dA to class-D amplify the converted analog signal to avoltage value corresponding to the voltage VHV. Then, the drive signaloutput circuit 51 a outputs the generated drive signal COMA to the printhead 20. Similarly, a digital base drive signal dB and the voltage VHVare input to the drive signal output circuit 51 b. The drive signaloutput circuit 51 b generates a drive signal COMB by digital-to-analogconverting the input base drive signal dB to class-D amplify theconverted analog signal to a voltage value corresponding to the voltageVHV. Then, the drive signal output circuit 51 b outputs the generateddrive signal COMB to the print head 20.

That is, the base drive signal dA defines the waveform of the drivesignal COMA, and the base drive signal dB defines the waveform of thedrive signal COMB. Therefore, the base drive signals dA and dB may besignals that can define the waveforms of the drive signals COMA andCOMB, and may be analog signals, for example. The details of the drivesignal output circuits 51 a and 51 b will be described later. Further,in the description of FIG. 2 , the drive circuit 50 is described asbeing included in the head unit 2, but the drive circuit 50 may beincluded in the control unit 10. In this case, the drive signals COMAand COMB output from the drive signal output circuits 51 a and 51 b aresupplied to the print head 20 via the cable 190.

The drive circuit 50 generates a constant reference voltage signal VBShaving a voltage value of 5.5 V, 6 V, or the like to supply it to theprint head 20. The reference voltage signal VBS is a signal of apotential serving as a reference for driving a piezoelectric element 60,and may be, for example, a signal of a ground potential.

The print head 20 includes a selection control circuit 210, a pluralityof selection circuits 230, and a plurality of ejection units 600corresponding to the plurality of respective selection circuits 230. Theselection control circuit 210 generates, based on the clock signal SCK,the print data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, and the change signal CHsupplied from the control circuit 100, a selection signal for selectingor deselecting the waveforms of the drive signals COMA and COMB tooutput the generated selection signal to each of the plurality ofselection circuits 230.

The drive signals COMA and COMB and the selection signal output from theselection control circuit 210 are input to each selection circuit 230.By selecting or deselecting the waveforms of the drive signals COMA andCOMB based on the input selection signal, the selection circuit 230generates a drive signal VOUT based on the drive signals COMA and COMBto output the generated drive signal VOUT to the corresponding ejectionunit 600.

Each ejection unit 600 includes a piezoelectric element 60. The drivesignal VOUT output from the corresponding selection circuit 230 issupplied to one end of the piezoelectric element 60. Further, theconstant reference voltage signal VBS having a voltage value of, forexample 5.5 V is supplied to the other end of the piezoelectric element60. The piezoelectric element 60 included in the ejection unit 600 isdriven according to a potential difference between the drive signal VOUTsupplied to the one end and the reference voltage signal VBS supplied tothe other end. As a result, the amount of ink corresponding to thedriving of the piezoelectric element 60 is ejected from the ejectionunit 600.

Here, the piezoelectric element 60 is an example of a drive element, andthe drive signal VOUT that is supplied to the piezoelectric element 60is an example of a drive signal. In addition, as described above, thedrive signal VOUT is generated by selecting or deselecting the waveformsof the drive signals COMA and COMB. Therefore, at least one of the drivesignals COMA and COMB is also an example of the drive signal. The drivecircuit 50 including the drive signal output circuits 51 a and 51 b thatoutput the drive signals COMA and COMB is an example of a drive circuit,and the print head 20 that ejects the ink by a supply of the drivesignal VOUT to the piezoelectric element 60 is an example of a liquidejection head.

1.3 Configuration of Ejection Unit

Next, the configuration of the ejection unit 600 included in the printhead 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematicconfiguration of one ejection unit 600 of the plurality of ejectionunits 600 included in the print head 20. As shown in FIG. 3 , theejection unit 600 includes the piezoelectric element 60, a vibrationplate 621, a cavity 631, and a nozzle 651.

The cavity 631 is filled with ink supplied from a reservoir 641.Further, the ink is introduced into the reservoir 641 from the inkcartridge 22 via an ink tube (not shown) and a supply port 661. That is,the cavity 631 is filled with the ink stored in the corresponding inkcartridge 22.

The vibration plate 621 is displaced by driving the piezoelectricelement 60 provided on the upper face in FIG. 3 . With the displacementof the vibration plate 621, the internal volume of the cavity 631 filledwith the ink expands or contracts. That is, the vibration plate 621functions as a diaphragm that changes the internal volume of the cavity631.

The nozzle 651 is an opening provided in a nozzle plate 632 andcommunicating with the cavity 631. When the internal volume of thecavity 631 changes, the amount of ink corresponding to the change in theinternal volume is ejected from the nozzle 651.

The piezoelectric element 60 has a structure in which a piezoelectricbody 601 is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes 611 and 612. In thepiezoelectric body 601 having such a structure, the central portions ofthe electrodes 611 and 612 bend together with the vibration plate 621 inthe vertical direction according to the potential difference of thevoltage supplied by the electrodes 611 and 612. Specifically, the drivesignal VOUT is supplied to the electrode 611 of the piezoelectricelement 60. Further, the reference voltage signal VBS is supplied to theelectrode 612 of the piezoelectric element 60. The piezoelectric element60 bends upward when the voltage level of the drive signal VOUTincreases, and bends downward when the voltage level of the drive signalVOUT decreases.

In the ejection unit 600 configured as described above, when thepiezoelectric element 60 bends upward, the vibration plate 621 isdisplaced to increase the internal volume of the cavity 631. As aresult, the ink is drawn from the reservoir 641. On the other hand, whenthe piezoelectric element 60 bends downward, the vibration plate 621 isdisplaced to reduce the internal volume of the cavity 631. As a result,the amount of ink corresponding to the degree of reduction is ejectedfrom the nozzle 651. That is, the print head 20 includes the electrode611 and the electrode 612, includes the piezoelectric element 60 drivenby the potential difference between the electrode 611 and the electrode612, and ejects the ink by driving the piezoelectric element 60.

Here, the piezoelectric element 60 is not limited to the structure shownin FIG. 3 , but may have any structure as long as it can eject the inkfrom the ejection unit 600. Therefore, the piezoelectric element 60 isnot limited to the above-described configuration of the bendingvibration, but may be, for example, a configuration using thelongitudinal vibration.

1.4 Configuration and Operation of Print Head

Next, the configuration and operation of the print head 20 will bedescribed. As described above, the print head 20 generates the drivesignal VOUT by selecting or deselecting the drive signals COMA and COMBoutput from the drive circuit 50 based on the clock signal SCK, theprint data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, and the change signal CH tosupply the generated drive signal VOUT to the corresponding ejectionunit 600. Therefore, in describing the configuration and operation ofthe print head 20, first, an example of the waveforms of the drivesignals COMA and COMB and an example of the waveform of the drive signalVOUT will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the waveforms of thedrive signals COMA and COMB. As shown in FIG. 4 , the drive signal COMAincludes a waveform in which a trapezoidal waveform Adp1 disposed in aperiod T1 from the rise of the latch signal LAT to the rise of thechange signal CH, and a trapezoidal waveform Adp2 disposed in a periodT2 from the rise of the change signal CH to the rise of the latch signalLAT are made to be continuous. The trapezoidal waveform Adp1 is awaveform for ejecting a small amount of ink from the nozzle 651, and thetrapezoidal waveform Adp2 is a waveform for ejecting a medium amount ofink that is larger than the small amount of ink from the nozzle 651.

Further, the drive signal COMB includes a waveform in which atrapezoidal waveform Bdp1 disposed in the period T1 and a trapezoidalwaveform Bdp2 disposed in the period T2 are made to be continuous. Thetrapezoidal waveform Bdp1 is a waveform that does not eject the ink fromthe nozzle 651, and that slightly vibrates the ink in the vicinity ofthe opening of the nozzle 651 to prevent an increase in ink viscosity.Further, as in the trapezoidal waveform Adp1, the trapezoidal waveformBdp2 is a waveform for ejecting a small amount of ink from the nozzles651.

The voltages at the start timing and the end timing of each of thetrapezoidal waveforms Adp1, Adp2, Bdp1, and Bdp2 are commonly a voltageVc. That is, each of the trapezoidal waveforms Adp1, Adp2, Bdp1, Bdp2has a waveform that starts at the voltage Vc and ends at the voltage Vc.A cycle Ta including the period T1 and the period T2 corresponds to aprinting cycle in which a new dot is formed on the medium P.

Here, in FIG. 4 , the trapezoidal waveform Adp1 and the trapezoidalwaveform Bdp2 are identical, but the trapezoidal waveform Adp1 and thetrapezoidal waveform Bdp2 may be different. Further, the description ismade assuming that a small amount of ink is ejected from thecorresponding nozzle 651 when the trapezoidal waveform Adp1 is suppliedto the ejection unit 600, and when the trapezoidal waveform Bdp1 issupplied to the ejection unit 600, but different amounts of the ink maybe ejected. That is, the waveforms of the drive signals COMA and COMBare not limited to the waveforms shown in FIG. 4 , but various waveformsmay be combined depending on the moving speed of the carriage 24 towhich the print head 20 is attached, the nature of the ink stored in theink cartridge 22, the material of the medium P, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the waveform of the drivesignal VOUT. FIG. 5 shows the waveforms of the drive signal VOUT withthe dots formed on the medium P having the sizes of the “large dot”, the“medium dot”, and the “small dot”, and having “no dots recorded” incomparison.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the drive signal VOUT when the “large dot” isformed on the medium P represents a waveform in the cycle Ta in whichthe trapezoidal waveform Adp1 disposed in the period T1, and thetrapezoidal waveform Adp2 disposed in the period T2 are made to becontinuous. When the drive signal VOUT is supplied to the ejection unit600, a small amount of ink and a medium amount of ink are ejected fromthe corresponding nozzle 651 in the cycle Ta. Therefore, the large dotis formed on the medium P by landing and uniting the respective amountsof the ink.

The drive signal VOUT when the “medium dot” is formed on the medium Prepresents a waveform in the cycle Ta in which the trapezoidal waveformAdp1 disposed in the period T1, and the trapezoidal waveform Bdp2disposed in the period T2 are made to be continuous. When the drivesignal VOUT is supplied to the ejection unit 600, a small amount of inkis ejected twice from the corresponding nozzle 651 in the cycle Ta.Therefore, the medium dot is formed on the medium P by landing anduniting the respective amounts of the ink.

The drive signal VOUT when the “small dot” is formed on the medium Prepresents a waveform in the cycle Ta in which the trapezoidal waveformAdp1 disposed in the period T1, and a constant waveform, with thevoltage Vc, disposed in the period T2 are made to be continuous. Whenthe drive signal VOUT is supplied to the ejection unit 600, a smallamount of ink is ejected from the corresponding nozzle 651 in the cycleTa. Therefore, this amount of ink lands on the medium P to form thesmall dot.

The drive signal VOUT corresponding to the “no dots recorded” in whichno dots are formed on the medium P represents a waveform in the cycle Tain which the trapezoidal waveform Bdp1 disposed in period T1, and aconstant waveform, with the voltage Vc, disposed in the period T2 aremade to be continuous. When the drive signal VOUT is supplied to theejection unit 600, the ink near the opening of the corresponding nozzle651 only slightly vibrates, and no ink is ejected in the cycle Ta.Therefore, the ink does not land on the medium P and no dots are formed.

Here, the waveform that is constant at the voltage Vc is a waveform witha voltage of the immediately preceding voltage Vc being held in thepiezoelectric element 60, which is a capacitive load, when none of thetrapezoidal waveforms Adp1, Adp2, Bdp1, and Bdp2 is selected as thedrive signal VOUT. Therefore, when none of the trapezoidal waveformsAdp1, Adp2, Bdp1, and Bdp2 is selected as the drive signal VOUT, it canbe said that the voltage Vc is supplied to the ejection unit 600 as thedrive signal VOUT.

The drive signal VOUT as described above is generated when the waveformsof the drive signals COMA and COMB are selected or deselected by theoperation of the selection control circuit 210 and the selection circuit230.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating configurations of the selection controlcircuit 210 and the selection circuits 230. As shown in FIG. 6 , theprint data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, the change signal CH, andthe clock signal SCK are input to the selection control circuit 210. Theselection control circuit 210 includes a set of a shift register (SIR)212, a latch circuit 214, and a decoder 216 corresponding to each of them ejection units 600. That is, the selection control circuit 210includes the same number of sets of the shift registers 212, the latchcircuits 214, and the decoders 216 as the m ejection units 600.

The print data signal SI is a signal synchronized with the clock signalSCK, and is a total 2·m-bit signal including 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL]for selecting any one of the “large dot”, the “medium dot”, the “smalldot”, and the “no dots recorded” for each of the m ejection units 600.The input print data signal SI is held in the shift register 212 for2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] included in the print data signal SIcorresponding to each of the m ejection units 600. Specifically, theselection control circuit 210 is configured such that the m-stage shiftregisters 212 corresponding to the m ejection units 600 arecascade-coupled to each other, and the print data signal SI inputserially is sequentially transferred to the subsequent stage accordingto the clock signal SCK. In FIG. 6 , in order to distinguish the shiftregisters 212, they are denoted as the first stage, the second stage . .. the m-th stage in order from the upstream shift register to which theprint data signal SI is input.

The m latch circuits 214 latches the 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] held bythe respective m shift registers 212 at the rising edge of the latchsignal LAT.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the decoding contents in the decoder216. The decoder 216 outputs selection signals S1 and S2 according tothe 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] latched by the latch circuit 214. Forexample, when the 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] is [1, 0], the decoder 216outputs the logic level of the selection signal S1 as H and L levels inthe periods T1 and T2, and the logic level of the selection signal S2 asL and H levels in the periods T1 and T2 to the selection circuit 230.

The selection circuit 230 is provided corresponding to each of theejection units 600. That is, the number of the selection circuits 230included in the print head 20 is m, which is the same as the totalnumber of the ejection units 600. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating aconfiguration of the selection circuit 230 corresponding to one ejectionunit 600. As shown in FIG. 8 , the selection circuit 230 includesinverters 232 a and 232 b, which are NOT circuits, and transfer gates234 a and 234 b.

The selection signal S1 is input to the non-circled positive control endin the transfer gate 234 a, while being input to the circled negativecontrol end in the transfer gate 234 a after logically inverted by theinverter 232 a. The drive signal COMA is supplied to the input end ofthe transfer gate 234 a. The selection signal S2 is input to thenon-circled positive control end in the transfer gate 234 b, while beinginput to the circled negative control end in the transfer gate 234 bafter logically inverted by the inverter 232 b. The drive signal COMB issupplied to the input end of the transfer gate 234 b. The output ends ofthe transfer gates 234 a and 234 b are coupled in common and the drivesignal COMA and the drive signal COMB are output as the drive signalVOUT.

Specifically, when the selection signal S1 is at H level, the transfergate 234 a brings the input end and the output end into a conductivestate therebetween, and when the selection signal S1 is at L level, thetransfer gate 234 a brings the input end and the output end into anon-conductive state therebetween. When the selection signal S2 is at Hlevel, the transfer gate 234 b brings the input end and the output endinto a conductive state therebetween, and when the selection signal S2is at L level, the transfer gate 234 b brings the input end and theoutput end into a non-conductive state therebetween. As described above,the selection circuit 230 generates and output the drive signal VOUT byselecting the waveforms of the drive signals COMA and COMB based on theselection signals S1 and S2.

Here, operations of the selection control circuit 210 and the selectioncircuit 230 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 . FIG. 9 is adiagram for explaining the operations of the selection control circuit210 and the selection circuit 230. The print data signal SI is seriallyinput in synchronization with the clock signal SCK, and is sequentiallytransferred to the shift registers 212 corresponding to the respectiveejection units 600. When the input of the clock signal SCK stops, eachshift register 212 holds 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] corresponding toeach of the ejection units 600. The print data signal SI is input to theshift registers 212 of the m-th stage . . . the second stage, thefirst-stage in the order of the corresponding ejection units 600.

When the latch signal LAT rises, each of the latch circuits 214simultaneously latches the 2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] held in therespective shift registers 212. In FIG. 9 , LT1, LT2 . . . LTm indicate2-bit print data [SIH, SIL] latched by the latch circuits 214corresponding to the shift registers 212 of the first stage, the secondstage . . . the m-th stage, respectively.

The decoder 216 outputs the logic levels of the selection signals S1 andS2 in accordance with the contents as shown in FIG. 7 in each of theperiods T1 and T2 according to a dot size defined by the latched 2-bitprint data [SIH, SIL].

Specifically, when the print data [SIH, SIL] is [1, 1], the decoder 216sets the selection signal S1 to H and H levels in the periods T1 and T2,and sets the selection signal S2 to L and L levels in the periods T1 andT2. In this case, the selection circuit 230 selects the trapezoidalwaveform Adp1 in the period T1, and selects the trapezoidal waveformAdp2 in the period T2. As a result, the drive signal VOUT correspondingto the “large dot” shown in FIG. 5 is generated.

Also, when the print data [SIH, SIL] is [1, 0], the decoder 216 sets theselection signal S1 to H and L levels in the periods T1 and T2, and setsthe selection signal S2 to L and H levels in the periods T1 and T2. Inthis case, the selection circuit 230 selects the trapezoidal waveformAdp1 in the period T1, and selects the trapezoidal waveform Bdp2 in theperiod T2. As a result, the drive signal VOUT corresponding to the“medium dot” shown in FIG. 5 is generated.

Further, when the print data [SIH, SIL] is [0, 1], the decoder 216 setsthe selection signal S1 to H and L levels in the periods T1 and T2, andsets the selection signal S2 to L and L levels in the periods T1 and T2.In this case, the selection circuit 230 selects the trapezoidal waveformAdp1 in the period T1, and selects none of the trapezoidal waveformsAdp2 and Bdp2 in the period T2. As a result, the drive signal VOUTcorresponding to the “small dot” shown in FIG. 5 is generated.

Further, when the print data [SIH, SIL] is [0, 0], the decoder 216 setsthe selection signal S1 to L and L levels in the periods T1 and T2, andsets the selection signal S2 to H and L levels in the periods T1 and T2.In this case, the selection circuit 230 selects the trapezoidal waveformBdp1 in the period T1, and selects none of the trapezoidal waveformsAdp2 and Bdp2 in the period T2. As a result, the drive signal VOUTcorresponding to “no dots recorded” shown in FIG. 5 is generated.

As mentioned above, the selection control circuit 210 and the selectioncircuit 230 select the waveforms of the drive signals COMA and COMBbased on the print data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, the changesignal CH, and the clock signal SCK to output the selected waveforms asthe drive signal VOUT to the ejection unit 600.

1.5 Configuration of Drive Signal Output Circuit

Next, the configuration and operation of the drive signal outputcircuits 51 a and 51 b that output the drive signals COMA and COMB willbe described. Here, the drive signal output circuit 51 a and the drivesignal output circuit 51 b have the same configuration except that onlythe input signal and the output signal are different. Therefore, in thefollowing description, only the configuration and operation of the drivesignal output circuit 51 a will be described, and the description of theconfiguration and operation of the drive signal output circuit 51 b willbe omitted. In FIG. 10 , in addition to the base drive signal dA inputto the drive signal output circuit 51 a, a terminal dA−In through whichthe base drive signal dA is input, the drive signal COMA output from thedrive signal output circuit 51 a, and a terminal COMA-Out through whichthe drive signal COMA is output, the base drive signal dB input to thedrive signal output circuit 51 b, a terminal dB−In through which thebase drive signal dB is input, the drive signal COMB output from thedrive signal output circuit 51 b, and a terminal COMB-Out through whichthe drive signal COMB is output are shown.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the drivesignal output circuit 51 a. The drive circuit 50 includes a modulationcircuit 510 that modulates the base drive signal dA in the drive signaloutput circuit 51 a to output a modulation signal Ms, an amplifiercircuit 550 that amplifies the modulation signal Ms to output anamplified modulation signal AMs, and a smoothing circuit 560 thatdemodulates the amplified modulation signal AMs to output the drivesignal COMA. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10 , the drive signal outputcircuit 51 a includes an integrated circuit 500 including a modulationcircuit 510, an output circuit 580 including an amplifier circuit 550and the smoothing circuit 560, a first feedback circuit 570, and asecond feedback circuit 572.

The integrated circuit 500 has a plurality of terminals including aterminal In, a terminal Bst, a terminal Hdr, a terminal Sw, a terminalGvd, a terminal Ldr, a terminal Gnd, and a terminal Vbs. The integratedcircuit 500 is electrically coupled to the outside of the integratedcircuit 500 via the plurality of terminals.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the integrated circuit 500 includes a digital toanalog converter (DAC) 511, a modulation circuit 510, a gate drivecircuit 520, a reference voltage generation circuit 530, and a powersupply circuit 590.

The power supply circuit 590 generates a first voltage signal DAC_HV anda second voltage signal DAC_LV to supply them to the DAC 511.

The DAC 511 converts the digital base drive signal dA that defines thewaveform of the drive signal COMA input via the terminal dA−In into abase drive signal aA that is an analog signal having a voltage valuebetween the first voltage signal DAC_HV and the second voltage signalDAC_LV to output the converted base drive signal aA to the modulationcircuit 510. Here, the maximum value of the voltage amplitude of thebase drive signal aA is defined by the first voltage signal DAC_HV, andthe minimum value is defined by the second voltage signal DAC_LV. Thatis, the first voltage signal DAC_HV is a reference voltage of the DAC511 on the high voltage side, and the second voltage signal DAC_LV is areference voltage of the DAC 511 on the low voltage side. A signalobtained by amplifying the analog base drive signal aA is the drivesignal COMA. That is, the base drive signal aA corresponds to a targetsignal before the amplification of the drive signal COMA. The voltageamplitude of the base drive signal aA in the present embodiment is, forexample, 1 V to 2 V.

The modulation circuit 510 generates the modulation signal Ms obtainedby modulating the base drive signal aA to output the generatedmodulation signal Ms to the amplifier circuit 550 included in the outputcircuit 580 via the gate drive circuit 520. Modulation circuit 510includes adders 512 and 513, a comparator 514, an inverter 515, anintegral attenuator 516, and an attenuator 517.

The integral attenuator 516 attenuates and integrates the voltage of theterminal COMA-Out input via a terminal Vfb, that is, the drive signalCOMA, and supplies the attenuated and integrated signal to a negativeinput end of the adder 512. The base drive signal aA is input to apositive input end of the adder 512. The adder 512 supplies a voltageobtained by subtracting and integrating the voltage input to thenegative input end from the voltage input to the positive input end tothe positive input end of the adder 513.

Here, the maximum value of the voltage amplitude of the base drivesignal aA is about 2 V as described above, whereas the maximum value ofthe voltage of the drive signal COMA may exceed 40 V in some cases. Forthis reason, the integral attenuator 516 attenuates the voltage of thedrive signal COMA input via the terminal Vfb in order to match theamplitude ranges of both voltages when obtaining the deviation.

The attenuator 517 supplies a voltage obtained by attenuating thehigh-frequency component of the drive signal COMA input via a terminalIfb to the negative input end of the adder 513. Further, the voltageoutput from the adder 512 is input to the positive input end of theadder 513. The adder 513 outputs to the comparator 514 a voltage signalAs obtained by subtracting the voltage input to the negative input endfrom the voltage input to the positive input end.

The voltage signal As output from the adder 513 is a voltage obtained bysubtracting the voltage of the signal supplied to the terminal Vfb andfurther subtracting the voltage of the signal supplied to the terminalIfb from the voltage of the base drive signal aA. For this reason, thevoltage of the voltage signal As output from the adder 513 is a signalobtained by correcting the deviation obtained by subtracting theattenuation voltage of the drive signal COMA from the voltage of thebase drive signal aA as the target signal by the high-frequencycomponent of the drive signal COMA.

The comparator 514 outputs the pulse-modulated modulation signal Msbased on the voltage signal As output from the adder 513. Specifically,the comparator 514 outputs the modulation signal Ms which is at H levelwhen the voltage signal As output from the adder 513 is equal to orhigher than a threshold Vth1 described later in a case where the voltageis rising, and is at L level when the voltage signal As falls below athreshold Vth2 described later in a case where the voltage is dropping.Here, the thresholds Vth1 and Vth2 are set in a relationship in whichthe threshold Vth1 is greater than the threshold Vth2. The frequency andthe duty ratio of the modulation signal Ms change in accordance with thebase drive signals dA and aA. Therefore, the attenuator 517 adjusts themodulation gain corresponding to the sensitivity, so that the changeamount of the frequency or the duty ratio of the modulation signal Mscan be adjusted.

The modulation signal Ms output from the comparator 514 is supplied to agate driver 521 included in the gate drive circuit 520. The modulationsignal Ms is also supplied to a gate driver 522 included in the gatedrive circuit 520 after the logic level is inverted by the inverter 515.That is, the logic levels of the signals supplied to the gate driver 521and the gate driver 522 are mutually exclusive.

Here, the timing may be controlled so that the logic levels of thesignals supplied to the gate driver 521 and the gate driver 522 are notH level at the same time. In other words, “exclusive” here means thatthe logic levels of the signals supplied to the gate driver 521 and thegate driver 522 are not H level at the same time. For details, thismeans that a transistor M1 and a transistor M2 included in the amplifiercircuit 550 described later are not turned on at the same time.

The gate drive circuit 520 includes the gate driver 521 and the gatedriver 522.

The gate driver 521 shifts the level of the modulation signal Ms outputfrom the comparator 514 to output the level-shifted modulation signal Msas an amplification control signal Hgd from the terminal Hdr. The higherside of the power supply voltage of the gate driver 521 is a voltageapplied via the terminal Bst, and the lower side is a voltage appliedvia the terminal Sw. The terminal Bst is coupled to one end of acapacitor C5 and the cathode of a diode D1 for backflow prevention. Theterminal Sw is coupled to the other end of the capacitor C5. The anodeof the diode D1 is coupled to the terminal Gvd. As a result, a voltageVm which is a DC voltage of, for example, 7.5 V supplied from a powersupply circuit (not shown) is supplied to the anode of the diode D1.Therefore, the potential difference between the terminal Bst and theterminal Sw is approximately equal to the potential difference betweenboth ends of the capacitor C5, that is, the voltage Vm. The gate driver521 outputs, from the terminal Hdr, the amplification control signal Hgdhaving a voltage higher than, by the voltage Vm, that of the terminal Swaccording to the input modulation signal Ms.

The gate driver 522 operates at a lower potential than the gate driver521. The gate driver 522 shifts the level of the signal obtained byinverting, by the inverter 515, the logic level of the modulation signalMs output from the comparator 514 to output the level-shifted signal asan amplification control signal Lgd from the terminal Ldr. The voltageVm is applied to the higher side of the power supply voltage of the gatedriver 522, and the ground potential of, for example, 0 V is supplied tothe lower side via the terminal Gnd. The gate driver 522 outputs, fromthe terminal Ldr, the amplification control signal Lgd having a voltagehigher than, by the voltage Vm, that of the terminal Gnd according tothe signal input to the gate driver 522.

Here, the modulation signal is, in a narrow sense, the modulation signalMs, but assuming that the signal is pulse-modulated according to theanalog base drive signal aA based on the digital base drive signal dA, asignal in which the logic level of the modulation signal Ms is invertedis also included in the modulation signal. That is, the modulationsignal output from the modulation circuit 510 includes not only themodulation signal Ms input to the gate driver 521, but also a signal inwhich the logic level of the modulation signal Ms input to the gatedriver 522 is inverted, and a signal whose timing is controlled withrespect to the modulation signal Ms. The amplification control signalHgd output by the gate driver 521 is a signal according to themodulation signal Ms, and the amplification control signal Lgd output bythe gate driver 522 is a signal according to a signal obtained byinverting the logic level of the modulation signal Ms. Therefore, themodulation signal also includes the amplification control signal Hgdoutput by the gate driver 521 and the amplification control signal Lgdoutput by the gate driver 522.

The reference voltage generation circuit 530 generates the referencevoltage signal VBS supplied to the electrode 612 of the piezoelectricelement 60 to output the generated reference voltage signal VBS to theelectrode 612 of the piezoelectric element 60 via the terminal Vbs ofthe integrated circuit 500 and a terminal VBS-Out of the drive signaloutput circuit 51 a. The reference voltage generation circuit 530 isconfigured by a constant voltage circuit including a band gap referencecircuit, for example.

Here, in FIG. 10 , the reference voltage generation circuit 530 isdescribed as being included in the integrated circuit 500 included inthe drive signal output circuit 51 a, but the reference voltagegeneration circuit 530 may be configured outside the integrated circuit500, or may be configured outside the drive signal output circuit 51 a.

The output circuit 580 includes the amplifier circuit 550 and thesmoothing circuit 560. The amplifier circuit 550 includes the transistorM1 and the transistor M2. The drain of the transistor M1 is electricallycoupled to a terminal Hd. The voltage VHV is supplied to the drain ofthe transistor M1 via a terminal VHV−In. The gate of the transistor M1is electrically coupled to one end of a resistor R1, and the other endof the resistor R1 is electrically coupled to the terminal Hdr of theintegrated circuit 500. That is, the amplification control signal Hgdoutput from the terminal Hdr of the integrated circuit 500 is suppliedto the gate of the transistor M1. The source of the transistor M1 iselectrically coupled to the terminal Sw of the integrated circuit 500.

The drain of the transistor M2 is electrically coupled to the terminalSw of the integrated circuit 500. That is, the drain of the transistorM2 and the source of the transistor M1 are electrically coupled to eachother. The gate of the transistor M2 is electrically coupled to one endof a resistor R2, and the other end of the resistor R2 is electricallycoupled to the terminal Ldr of the integrated circuit 500. That is, theamplification control signal Lgd output from the terminal Ldr of theintegrated circuit 500 is supplied to the gate of the transistor M2. Theground potential is supplied to the source of the transistor M2.

In the amplifier circuit 550 configured as described above, when thetransistor M1 is turned off and the transistor M2 is turned on, thevoltage of the node to which the terminal Sw is coupled is the groundpotential. Therefore, the voltage Vm is supplied to the terminal Bst. Onthe other hand, when the transistor M1 is turned on and the transistorM2 is turned off, the voltage of the node to which the terminal Sw iscoupled is the voltage VHV. Therefore, a voltage signal of the potentialof the voltage VHV+Vm is supplied to the terminal Bst.

That is, the gate driver 521 that drives the transistor M1 uses thecapacitor C5 as a floating power supply, and when the potential of theterminal Sw changes to 0 V or the voltage VHV according to the operationof the transistor M1 and the transistor M2, supplies, to the gate of thetransistor M1, the amplification control signal Hgd whose L level is thepotential of the voltage VHV and whose H level is the potential of thevoltage VHV+the voltage Vm.

On the other hand, the gate driver 522 that drives the transistor M2supplies, to the gate of the transistor M2, the amplification controlsignal Lgd whose L level is the ground potential and whose H level isthe potential of the voltage Vm irrespective of the operations of thetransistor M1 and the transistor M2.

As described above, the amplifier circuit 550 amplifies, by thetransistor M1 and the transistor M2, based on the voltage VHV, themodulation signal Ms obtained by modulating the base drive signals dAand aA. As a result, the amplified modulation signal AMs is generated atthe coupling point where the source of the transistor M1 and the drainof the transistor M2 are commonly coupled. Then, the amplifiedmodulation signal AMs generated by the amplifier circuit 550 is input tothe smoothing circuit 560.

The smoothing circuit 560 generates the drive signal COMA by smoothingthe amplified modulation signal output from the amplifier circuit 550 tooutput the generated drive signal COMA from the drive signal outputcircuit 51 a. The smoothing circuit 560 includes a coil L1 and acapacitor C1.

The amplified modulation signal AMs output from the amplifier circuit550 is input to one end of the coil L1. The other end of the coil L1 iscoupled to the terminal COMA-Out serving as an output of the drivesignal output circuit 51 a. That is, the drive signal output circuit 51a is coupled to each of the selection circuits 230 included in therespective print heads 20 via the terminal COMA-Out. As a result, thedrive signal COMA output from the drive signal output circuit 51 a issupplied to the selection circuit 230. The other end of the coil L1 isalso coupled to one end of the capacitor C1. The ground potential issupplied to the other end of the capacitor C1. That is, the coil L1 andthe capacitor C1 demodulates the amplified modulation signal AMs outputfrom the amplifier circuit 550 by smoothing it to output the demodulatedsignal as the drive signal COMA. Here, the smoothing circuit 560 whichdemodulates the amplified modulation signal AMs by smoothing it tooutput the demodulated signal as the drive signal COMA is an example ofa demodulation circuit.

The first feedback circuit 570 includes a resistor R3 and a resistor R4.One end of the resistor R3 is coupled to the terminal COMA-Out throughwhich the drive signal COMA is output, and the other end is coupled tothe terminal Vfb and one end of the resistor R4. The voltage VHV issupplied to the other end of the resistor R4 via the terminal VHV−In. Asa result, the drive signal COMA that has passed through the firstfeedback circuit 570 from the terminal COMA-Out is fed back to theterminal Vfb in a state of being pulled up by the voltage VHV.

The second feedback circuit 572 includes capacitors C2, C3, and C4 andresistors R5 and R6. One end of the capacitor C2 is coupled to theterminal COMA-Out through which the drive signal COMA is output, and theother end is coupled to one end of the resistor R5 and one end of theresistor R6. The ground potential is supplied to the other end of theresistor R5. Thus, the capacitor C2 and the resistor R5 function as ahigh pass filter. The cut-off frequency of the high-pass filter is setto, for example, about 9 MHz. The other end of the resistor R6 iscoupled to one end of the capacitor C4 and one end of the capacitor C3.The ground potential is supplied to the other end of the capacitor C3.Thus, the resistor R6 and the capacitor C3 function as a low-passfilter. The cutoff frequency of the LPF is set to, for example, about160 MHz. In this way, since the second feedback circuit 572 includes thehigh-pass filter and the low-pass filter, so that the second feedbackcircuit 572 functions as a band pass filter that passes a predeterminedfrequency range of the drive signal COMA.

The other end of the capacitor C4 is coupled to the terminal Ifb of theintegrated circuit 500. As a result, a Signal obtained by cutting the DCcomponent out of the high frequency components of the drive signal COMAthat has passed through the second feedback circuit 572 that functionsas the band pass filter is fed back to the terminal Ifb.

The drive signal COMA output from the terminal COMA-Out is a signalobtained by smoothing the amplified modulation signal AMs by thesmoothing circuit 560. The drive signal COMA is integrated/subtractedvia the terminal Vfb, and then fed back to the adder 512. Therefore, thedrive signal output circuit 51 a self-oscillates at a frequencydetermined by the feedback delay and the feedback transfer function.

However, since the feedback path via the terminal Vfb has a large delayamount, so that there is a case where the frequency of theself-oscillation cannot be made high enough to ensure the accuracy ofthe drive signal COMA simply by the feedback via the terminal Vfb.Therefore, the delay in the entire circuit is reduced by providing apath through which the high-frequency component of the drive signal COMAis fed back via the terminal Ifb separately from the path via theterminal Vfb. As a result, the frequency of the voltage signal As can bemade high enough to ensure the accuracy of the drive signal COMA ascompared with the case where there is no path via the terminal Ifb.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the waveforms of the voltage signal Asand the modulation signal Ms in association with the waveform of theanalog base drive signal aA. As shown in FIG. 11 , the voltage signal Asis a triangular wave, and its oscillation frequency varies according tothe voltage of the base drive signal aA. Specifically, the frequency ishighest when the voltage has an intermediate value, and decreases as thevoltage has a higher value or a lower value than the intermediate value.

Further, the slope of the triangular wave of the voltage signal As atthe rise of the voltage is almost equal to that at the fall of thevoltage when the voltage has the nearly intermediate value. Therefore,the duty ratio of the modulation signal Ms obtained by comparing thevoltage signal As with the thresholds Vth1 and Vth2 of the comparator514 is approximately 50%. When the voltage of the voltage signal Asincreases from the intermediate value, the downward slope of the voltagesignal As is gentle. Therefore, the period during which the modulationsignal Ms is at H level is relatively long, and the duty ratio of themodulation signal Ms increases. On the other hand, when the voltage ofthe voltage signal As decreases from the intermediate value, the upwardslope of the voltage signal As decreases. Therefore, the period duringwhich the modulation signal Ms is at H level is relatively short, andthe duty ratio of the modulation signal Ms decreases.

The gate driver 521 turns on or off the transistor M1 based on themodulation signal Ms. That is, the gate driver 521 turns on thetransistor M1 when the modulation signal Ms is at H level, and turns offthe transistor M1 when the modulation signal Ms is at L level. The gatedriver 522 turns on or off the transistor M2 based on the logicallyinverted signal of the modulation signal Ms. That is, the gate driver522 turns off the transistor M2 when the modulation signal Ms is at Hlevel and turns on the transistor M2 when the modulation signal Ms is atL level.

Therefore, the voltage value of the drive signal COMA obtained bysmoothing the amplified modulation signal AMs output from the amplifiercircuit 550 by the smoothing circuit 560 increases as the duty ratio ofthe modulation signal Ms increases, and decreases as the duty ratiodecreases. That is, the control is performed so that the waveform of thedrive signal COMA matches the waveform obtained by enlarging the voltageof the base drive signal aA obtained by performing the analog conversionon the digital base drive signal dA.

Further, since the drive signal output circuit 51 a uses the pulsedensity modulation, there is also an advantage that the change width ofthe duty ratio can be made large as compared with that of the pulsewidth modulation with a fixed modulation frequency. The minimum positivepulse width and the minimum negative pulse width that can be used in thedrive signal output circuit 51 a are limited by circuit characteristics.Therefore, in the pulse width modulation in which the frequency isfixed, the change width of the duty ratio is limited within apredetermined range. In contrast, with the pulse density modulation, asthe voltage of the voltage signal As moves away from the intermediatevalue, the oscillation frequency decreases, and as a result, it ispossible to further increase the duty ratio in a region where thevoltage is high. Further, it is possible to further decrease the dutyratio in a region where the voltage is low. Therefore, it is possible tosecure a wider range of the change width of the duty ratio by employingself-oscillation type pulse density modulation.

Here, the drive signal COMA output by the drive signal output circuit 51a is selected or deselected by the selection circuit 230 to be supplied,as the drive signal VOUT supplied to the electrode 611 of thepiezoelectric element 60, to the piezoelectric element 60. That is, theoutput current based on the drive signal COMA output by the drive signaloutput circuit 51 a changes according to the number of the piezoelectricelements 60 supplied as the drive signal VOUT. Then, the output currentof the drive signal output circuit 51 a changes, so that the voltagevalue of the voltage VHV input to the drive signal output circuit 51 amay fluctuate. As a result, the waveform accuracy of the drive signalCOMA generated by amplification based on the voltage VHV may decrease.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10 , a capacitor C6 for reducing the voltagefluctuation of the voltage VHV when the output current of the drivesignal output circuit 51 a changes is electrically coupled to theterminal VHV−In. The capacitor C6 is required to have a relatively largecapacitance for reducing the voltage fluctuation of the voltage VHV withrespect to the change in the output current, and to have a withstandvoltage equal to or higher than the voltage value of the voltage VHV.Therefore, an electrolytic capacitor having a relatively largecapacitance and a withstand voltage of several tens of volts or more isused for the capacitor C6. As a result, it is possible to reduce thepossibility that the voltage value of the voltage VHV fluctuates inresponse to the change in the output current of the drive signal outputcircuit 51 a.

Further, the reference voltage generation circuit 530 included in theintegrated circuit 500 generates the reference voltage signal VBSsupplied to the electrode 612 of the piezoelectric element 60 to outputthe generated reference voltage signal VBS via the terminal VBS-Out. Thecurrent value output from the drive signal output circuit 51 a based onthe reference voltage signal VBS changes according to the number ofpiezoelectric elements 60 to which the drive signal COMA as the drivesignal VOUT is supplied. Therefore, the voltage value of the referencevoltage signal VBS may fluctuate, and when the voltage value of thereference voltage signal VBS fluctuates, the potential differencebetween the electrode 611 and the electrode 612 of the piezoelectricelement 60 may vary. Therefore, the driving of the piezoelectric element60 may vary, and as a result, the ejection accuracy of the ink maydecrease.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 10 , a capacitor C7 for reducing thevoltage fluctuation of the reference voltage signal VBS when the currentvalue output from the drive signal output circuit 51 a based on thereference voltage signal VBS changes is electrically coupled to theterminal VBS-Out. The capacitor C7 is required to have a relativelylarge capacitance for reducing the voltage fluctuation of the referencevoltage signal VBS with respect to the change in the output current, andto have a withstand voltage equal to or higher than the voltage value ofthe reference voltage signal VBS. Therefore, an electrolytic capacitorhaving a relatively large capacitance and a withstand voltage of severalvolts or more is used for the capacitor C7. As a result, it is possibleto reduce the possibility that the voltage value of the referencevoltage signal VBS fluctuates with respect to the change in the currentvalue output from the drive signal output circuit 51 a based on thereference voltage signal VBS.

1.6 Configuration of Circuit Substrate Provided with Drive Circuit andDrive Signal Output Circuit

Next, the configuration of a drive signal output circuit substrate 40 aon which the drive signal output circuit 51 a is mounted, a drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 b on which the drive signal output circuit51 b is mounted, and a drive circuit substrate 30 to which the drivesignal output circuit substrates 40 a and 40 b are detachably coupledwill be described.

That is, the drive circuit 50 includes drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b and the drive circuit substrate 30. In thefollowing explanation, the capacitor C6 electrically coupled to theterminal VHV−In of the drive signal output circuit 51 a may be referredto as a capacitor C6 a, and the capacitor C7 electrically coupled to theterminal VBS-Out of the drive signal output circuit 51 a may be referredto as a capacitor C7 a. Similarly, the capacitor C6 electrically coupledto the terminal VHV−In of the drive signal output circuit 51 b isreferred to as a capacitor C6 b, the capacitor C7 electrically coupledto the terminal VBS-Out of the drive signal output circuit 51 b may bereferred to as a capacitor C7 b.

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of the drivecircuit substrate 30. As shown in FIG. 12 , the drive circuit substrate30 includes a wiring substrate 300, connectors 310, 320, 330 a and 330b, and the capacitors C6 a, C6 b, C7 a, and C7 b.

The wiring substrate 300 has a substantially rectangular shape includinga side 301, a side 302 facing the side 301, a side 303 intersecting theside 301 and the side 302, and a side 304 facing the side 303 andintersecting the side 301 and the side 302. The wiring substrate 300 isprovided with the connectors 310, 320, 330 a and 330 b and thecapacitors C6 a, C6 b, C7 a, and C7 b. Further, the drive signal outputcircuit substrates 40 a and 40 b are detachably coupled to the wiringsubstrate 300.

The connector 310 includes a plurality of terminals 311 disposed side byside in the direction along the side 303. Various signals including theclock signal SCK, the print data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, thechange signal CH, and the base drive signals dA and dB which are outputby the control circuit 100 described above, and various voltage signalsincluding the voltage VHV output by the voltage output circuit 110 areinput to the connector 310. Of the clock signal SCK, the print datasignal SI, the latch signal LAT, the change signal CH, the base drivesignals dA and dB, and the voltage VHV which are input to the connector310, the base drive signal dA and the voltage VHV are supplied to thedrive signal output circuit substrates 40 a, and the base drive signaldB and the voltage VHV are supplied to the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b. The clock signal SCK, the print data signal SI, thelatch signal LAT, and the change signal CH in addition to the base drivesignals dA and dB, and the voltage VHV may be input to the drive signaloutput circuit substrates 40 a and 40 b.

The connector 320 is located toward the side 301 relative to theconnector 310 and includes a plurality of terminals 321 disposed side byside in the direction along the side 303. The drive signal COMA outputfrom the drive signal output circuit 51 a mounted on the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a, the drive signal COMB output from thedrive signal output circuit 51 b mounted on the drive signal outputcircuit substrate 40 b, and the reference voltage signal VBS are inputto the connector 320. Further, the clock signal SCK, the print datasignal SI, the latch signal LAT, and the change signal CH are input tothe connector 320. Various signals including the drive signals COMA andCOMB, the reference voltage signal VBS, the clock signal SCK, the printdata signal SI, the latch signal LAT, and the change signal CH which areinput to the connector 320 are supplied to the print head 20.

The capacitor C6 a is provided toward the side 304 relative to theconnector 310. The capacitor C6 b is provided toward the side 304relative to the capacitor C6 a. That is, the capacitors C6 a and C6 bare located toward the side 304 relative to the connector 310, and areprovided side by side in the order of the capacitor C6 a and thecapacitor C6 b in the direction from the side 303 to the side 304.

The capacitor C7 a is provided toward the side 304 relative to theconnector 320 and toward the side 301 relative to the capacitors C6 aand C6 b. The capacitor C7 b is provided toward the side 304 relative tothe capacitor C7 a and toward the side 301 relative to the capacitors C6a and C6 b. That is, the capacitors C7 a and C7 b are located toward theside 304 relative to the connector 320 and toward the side 301 relativeto the capacitors C6 a and C6 b, and are disposed side by side in theorder of the capacitor C7 a and the capacitor C7 b in the direction fromthe side 303 to the side 304.

The connector 330 a is located toward the side 304 relative to theconnector 310, and is provided between the capacitors C6 a and C6 b andthe capacitors C7 a and C7 b. The connector 330 b is located toward theside 304 relative to the connector 330 a and is provided between thecapacitors C6 a and C6 b and the capacitors C7 a and C7 b. That is, theconnectors 330 a and 330 b are toward the side 304 relative to theconnector 310, toward the side 301 relative to the capacitors C6 a andC6 b, and toward the side 302 relative to the capacitors C7 a and C7 b,and are provided side by side in the order of the connector 330 a andthe connector 330 b in the direction from the side 303 to the side 304.

The drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a is detachably coupled tothe wiring substrate 300 toward the side 301 relative to the connector330 a. Specifically, one side of the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 a is inserted into the connector 330 a, and screws 341 aand 342 a coupled to the wiring substrate 300 are attached toward theother side of the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a, so thatthe drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a is detachably coupled tothe wiring substrate 300. Similarly, the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b is detachably coupled to the wiring substrate 300 towardthe side 301 relative to the connector 330 b. Specifically, one side ofthe drive signal output circuit substrate 40 b is inserted into theconnector 330 b, and screws 341 b and 342 b coupled to the wiringsubstrate 300 are attached toward the other side of the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 b, so that the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b is detachably coupled to the wiring substrate 300.

Here, the connector 330 a may be configured by a card edge connector orthe like electrically coupled to the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 a by an insertion of one side of the drive signal outputcircuit substrate 40 a into the connector 330 a, and similarly, theconnector 330 b may be configured by a card edge connector or the likeelectrically coupled to the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 bby an insertion of one side of the drive signal output circuit substrate40 b into the connector 330 b.

Next, details of the configuration of the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b detachably coupled to the wiring substrate 300will be described with reference to FIG. 13 . FIG. 13 is a plan viewillustrating the configuration of the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b. It should be noted that the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a and the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b have the same configuration except that the circuit to bemounted is the drive signal output circuit 51 a or the drive signaloutput circuit 51 b. Therefore, in FIG. 13 , the configuration of thedrive signal output circuit substrate 40 a will be described as anexample, and the description of the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b will be simplified or omitted.

As shown in FIG. 13 , the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 aincludes the drive signal output circuit 51 a that outputs the drivesignal COMA for driving the piezoelectric element 60, a plurality ofterminals 410 to which the base drive signal dA that is the base of thedrive signal COMA and the voltage VHV are input, and a wiring substrate400 on which the drive signal output circuit 51 a and the plurality ofterminals 410 is provided.

The wiring substrate 400 has a substantially rectangular shape includinga side 401, a side 402 facing the side 401, a side 403 intersecting theside 401 and the side 402, and a side 404 facing the side 403 andintersecting the side 401 and the side 402. Then, as shown in FIG. 13 ,the length of the side 401 and the side 402 of the wiring substrate 400are longer than the length of the side 403 and the side 404. In otherwords, the wiring substrate 400 includes the side 403 and the side 404,and the side 401 and the side 402 longer than the side 403 and the side404.

The plurality of terminals 410 is provided on the wiring substrate 400side by side in the direction along the side 403 of the wiring substrate400. The plurality of terminals 410 is electrically coupled to theconnector 330 a included in the drive circuit substrate 30. That is, theplurality of terminals 410 and the connector 330 a are electricallycoupled by inserting the side 403 of the wiring substrate 400 includedin the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a into the connector 330a, so that the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a and the drivecircuit substrate 30 are electrically coupled. As a result, the basedrive signals dA and dB and the voltage VHV are input to the drivesignal output circuit substrate 40 a via the plurality of terminals 410.

The drive signal output circuit 51 a is positioned on the wiringsubstrate 400 toward the side 404 relative to the plurality of terminals410. In other words, at least one of the plurality of terminals 410 andthe drive signal output circuit 51 are positioned side by side in thedirection along the side 401. Specifically, as described above, thedrive signal output circuit 51 includes the integrated circuit 500, theamplifier circuit 550, the smoothing circuit 560, the first feedbackcircuit 570, and the second feedback circuit 572. The integrated circuit500 is positioned toward the side 404 relative to the plurality ofterminals 410. The amplifier circuit 550 is positioned toward the side404 relative to the integrated circuit 500. The smoothing circuit 560 ispositioned toward the side 404 relative to the amplifier circuit 550.That is, the integrated circuit 500, the amplifier circuit 550, and thesmoothing circuit 560 are positioned toward the side 404 relative to theplurality of terminals 410 provided on the wiring substrate 400, and areprovided side by side in the order of the integrated circuit 500, theamplifier circuit 550, and the smoothing circuit 560 in the directionfrom the side 403 to the side 404.

The first feedback circuit 570 is positioned toward the side 401relative to the integrated circuit 500 and toward the side 404 relativeto the plurality of terminals 410. The second feedback circuit 572 ispositioned toward the side 404 relative to the first feedback circuit570 and toward the side 401 relative to the integrated circuit 500.

As mentioned above, the modulation circuit 510, the amplifier circuit550, and the smoothing circuit 560 included in the drive signal outputcircuit 51 a are provided on the drive signal output circuit substrate40 a, and the modulation circuit 510, the amplifier circuit 550, and thesmoothing circuit 560 included in the drive signal output circuit 51 bare provided on the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 b. Here, atleast one of the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a and thedrive signal output circuit substrate 40 b corresponds to a circuitsubstrate, and the wiring substrate 400 included in the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a and the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 b is an example of a substrate.

Further, the wiring substrate 400 has insertion holes 441 and 442. Theinsertion holes 441 and 442 are positioned toward the side 404 relativeto the drive signal output circuit 51 in the wiring substrate 400, andare provided in the order of the insertion hole 441 and the insertionhole 442 in the direction from the side 401 to the side 402. Then, thescrew 341 a is inserted into the insertion hole 441, and the screw 342 ais inserted into the insertion hole 442. The drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 a is attached to the drive circuit substrate 30 bytightening the screws 341 a and 342 a inserted into the insertion holes441 and 442 to the drive circuit substrate 30.

Next, a specific example of the electrical connection between the drivecircuit substrate 30 and the drive signal output circuit substrates 40 aand 40 b will be described. Before describing the electrical connectionbetween the drive circuit substrate 30 and the drive signal outputcircuit substrates 40 a and 40 b, the configuration of the wiringsubstrate 400 included in the drive signal output circuit substrates 40a and 40 b will be described first with reference to FIG. 14 .

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the wiringsubstrate 400. As shown in FIG. 14 , the wiring substrate 400 includes abase material 491, an insulation layer 492, a wiring layer 493, and aprotective layer 494.

The base material 491 is a plate-shaped member including a face 495 anda face 496 opposite to the face 495, and bears the strength of thewiring substrate 400. The base material 491 in the present embodiment isconfigured to include a metal having excellent thermal conductivity.That is, the base material 491 includes a metal. Here, the metalcontained in the base material 491 is a material having excellentthermal conductivity among metals, and for example, copper and a copperalloy, aluminum and an aluminum alloy, or the like are preferably used.That is, the base material 491 preferably contains copper as a metal.

The insulation layer 492, the wiring layer 493, and the protective layer494 are laminated in the order of the insulation layer 492, the wiringlayer 493, and the protective layer 494 in the direction along thedirection normal to the face 495 of the base material 491. In otherwords, the wiring substrate 400 includes the base material 491, and theinsulation layer 492, the wiring layer 493, and the protective layer 494that are laminated in the direction normal to the face 495 of the basematerial 491.

The wiring layer 493 includes a plurality of wires containing copper ora copper alloy. Each wire includes a wire through which the base drivesignal dA input to the drive signal output circuit 51 a propagates, awire through which the amplified modulation signal AMs output by theamplifier circuit 550 included in the drive signal output circuit 51 apropagates, a wire through which the drive signal COMA output by thedrive signal output circuit 51 a propagates, a wire through which theground signal indicating the reference potential of the drive signaloutput circuit 51 a propagates, and the like.

The insulation layer 492 is provided between the base material 491 andthe wiring layer 493. This reduces the possibility that a plurality ofsignals propagating through the wiring layer 493 will be short-circuitedby the metal contained in the base material 491. Further, the protectivelayer 494 reduces the possibility that a short circuit may occur betweenthe wires provided in a wiring layer 393 when the extra solder used whenvarious circuit components included in the drive signal output circuit51 a are mounted on the wiring substrate 400 is attached to the wiringformed in the wiring layer 493.

Here, the thickness tin1 of the base material 491 included in the wiringsubstrate 400 is thicker than any of the thickness tin2 of theinsulation layer 492, the thickness tin3 of the wiring layer 493, andthe thickness tin4 of the protective layer 494. That is, the thicknesstin1 of the base material 491 is thicker than the thickness tin2 of theinsulation layer 492, the thickness tin1 of the base material 491 isthicker than the thickness tin3 of the wiring layer 493, and thethickness tin1 of the base material 491 is thicker than the thicknesstin4 of the protective layer 494. Specifically, while the thickness tin1of the base material 491 is about 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm, the thickness tin2of the insulation layer 492, the thickness tin3 of the wiring layer 493,and the thickness tin4 of the protective layer 494 are each about 10 μmto 200 μm. In this way, the thickness tin1 of the base material 491 isthicker than any of the thickness tin2 of the insulation layer 492, thethickness tin3 of the wiring layer 493, and the thickness tin4 of theprotective layer 494, so that the strength of the wiring substrate 400can be maintained.

As described above, the wiring substrate 400 in the present embodimentis configured to include the base material 491, and the insulation layer492, the wiring layer 493, and the protective layer 494 that arelaminated on the face 495 of the base material 491. The electroniccomponents included in the amplifier circuit 550 and the smoothingcircuit 560 are electrically coupled to the wiring included in thewiring layer 493 laminated on the base material 491, and the amplifiercircuit 550 and the smoothing circuit 560 are positioned on theprotective layer 494 laminated on the base material 491. That is, theamplifier circuit 550 is positioned so as to overlap at least part ofthe base material 391 in the direction normal to the base material 491,and the smoothing circuit 560 is positioned so as to overlap at leastpart of the base material 391 in the direction normal to the basematerial 491.

Here, the wiring layer 493 including the wiring through which at leastone of the amplified modulation signal AMs and the drive signal COMApropagates is an example of a first layer, and the face 495 of the basematerial 491 on which the wiring layer 493 is laminated is an example ofa first face of the base material 491. The face 495 of the base material491 is an example of a first face.

Next, a specific example of the electrical connection between the drivecircuit substrate 30 and the drive signal output circuit substrates 40 aand 40 b will be described with reference to FIG. 15 . FIG. 15 is adiagram illustrating a cross section of the drive circuit substrate 30and the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a taken along lineXV-XV shown in FIG. 12 .

As shown in FIG. 15 , the connector 330 a includes a conductive portion331 a. One end of the conductive portion 331 a is electrically coupledto a wire 393 a provided on the wiring substrate 300, the other end ofthe conductive portion 331 a is electrically coupled to a wire 493 aincluded in the wiring layer 493 of the wiring substrate 400 included inthe drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a inserted into theconnector 330 a. As a result, various signals including the base drivesignal dA propagating in the drive circuit substrate 30 and the voltageVHV are input to the wiring layer 493 included in the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a. Here, the wire 493 a electrically coupledto the conductive portion 331 a included in the connector 330 acorresponds to the plurality of terminals 410 provided on the wiringsubstrate 400 described above. That is, the connector 330 a includes theplurality of conductive portions 331 a corresponding to the plurality ofrespective terminals 410 included in the drive signal output circuitsubstrate 40 a.

Of the base drive signal dA and the voltage VHV input to the drivesignal output circuit substrate 40 a via the wire 493 a, the base drivesignal dA propagates through a wire 493 b provided in the wiring layer493 of the wiring substrate 400, and is input to the integrated circuit500 including the modulation circuit 510. As described above, theintegrated circuit 500 generates and output the amplification controlsignals Hgd and Lgd based on the input base drive signal dA.

Of the amplification control signals Hgd and Lgd output from theintegrated circuit 500, the amplification control signal Lgd propagatesthrough a wire 493 c and is input to the transistor M2 included in theamplifier circuit 550. Further, the amplification control signal Hgdpropagates through a wire (not shown) provided in the wiring layer 493and is input to the transistor M1 included in the amplifier circuit 550.

The amplifier circuit 550 operates, based on the voltage VHV, theamplification control signals Hgd and Lgd input to the transistors M1and M2. As a result, the amplified modulation signal AMs is generatedand output to a wire 493 d.

The amplified modulation signal AMs output from the amplifier circuit550 propagates through the wire 493 d and is input to one end of thecoil L1 included in the smoothing circuit 560. The smoothing circuit 560generates the drive signal COMA by demodulating the amplified modulationsignal AMs by the coil L1 and the capacitor C1 (not shown) to output thegenerated drive signal COMA to a wire 493 e.

The wire 493 e is electrically coupled to the screw 341 a insertedthrough the insertion hole 441. The screw 341 a is inserted through aspacer 591 a and an insertion hole 345 a provided in the wiringsubstrate 300, and is tightened by a nut 344 a. As a result, the drivesignal output circuit substrate 40 a is fixed to the drive circuitsubstrate 30. Further, the screw 341 a is tightened by the nut 344 a, sothat the nut 344 a is electrically coupled to a wire 393 b provided onthe wiring substrate 300. Then, the wire 393 b is electrically coupledto the connector 320 shown in FIG. 12 .

As a result, the drive signal COMA output from the smoothing circuit 560is input to the connector 320 via the wire 493 e, the screw 341 a, thenut 344 a, and the wire 393 b. Then, the drive signal COMA input to theconnector 320 is supplied to the print head 20.

Here, among the plurality of wires included in the wiring layer 493 ofthe wiring substrate 400, at least one of the wire 493 d through whichthe amplified modulation signal AMs propagates and the wire 493 ethrough which the drive signal COMA propagates is an example of a firstpropagation wire.

The drive circuit substrate 30 is electrically coupled to the wiringsubstrate 400 included in the drive signal output circuit substrate 40a, relays the reference voltage signal VBS, the clock signal SCK, theprint data signal SI, the latch signal LAT, and the change signal CHthat are input from the connector 310 to the connector 320, relays thebase drive signal dA to the drive signal output circuit substrate 40 a,and further, relays the drive signal COMA output from the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a to the connector 320. That is, the drivecircuit substrate 30 that is electrically coupled to the wiringsubstrate 400 and that relays the propagation of the drive signal COMAto the print head 20 is an example of a relay circuit substrate.

1.7 Functions and Effects

In the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b of the first embodiment configured as describedabove, of the drive circuit 50 that outputs drive signals COMA and COMBthat drive the piezoelectric element 60, the wiring substrate 400 onwhich the modulation circuit 510, the amplifier circuit 550, and thesmoothing circuit 560 that are included in the drive signal outputcircuit 51 a are provided includes the base material 491 containing ametal, and the wiring layer 493 provided with at least one of the wire493 d through which the amplified modulation signal AMs propagates andthe wire 493 e through which the drive signal COMA propagates both ofwhich are laminated on the base material 491. In the liquid ejectingapparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuit substrates 40 a and 40 bconfigured as described above, heat generated by the amplifiedmodulation signal AMs having a large amount of current propagatingthrough the wiring provided in the wiring layer 393 and the drive signalCOMA is conducted to the base material 491. In this case, since the basematerial 491 includes a metal having excellent thermal conductivity, andis thicker than the wiring layer 493, the heat generated by theamplified modulation signal AMs having a large amount of currentpropagating through the wiring provided in the wiring layer 393 and thedrive signal COMA is efficiently dispersed and released by the basematerial 491. That is, the heat generated in the drive circuit 50 can beefficiently released.

Further, since the base material 491 contains a metal having excellentthermal conductivity, and is thicker than the wiring layer 493, thepossibility that heat generated by the amplified modulation signal AMshaving a large amount of current propagating through the wiring providedin the wiring layer 393 and the drive signal COMA may be locallyconcentrated near the heat-generating components and the wiring isreduced, and as a result, the possibility that the characteristicdeterioration of the components consisting of the drive circuit 50, andmalfunction of the drive circuit 50 due to the characteristicdeterioration may occur is reduced.

As described above, the effect of efficiently releasing the heatgenerated in the drive circuit 50, and the effect of reducing thepossibility that deterioration of the characteristics of the componentsconstituting the drive circuit 50, and malfunction of the drive circuit50 due to the characteristic deterioration, and the like may occur aremore prominent when the metal constituting the base material 491contains copper having excellent thermal conductivity.

1.8 Modification

In the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b of the first embodiment described above, aground signal indicating the reference potential of the drive circuit 50and the drive signal output circuits 51 a and 51 b may be supplied tothe base material 491 included in the wiring substrate 400. As describedabove, the thickness tin1 of the base material 491 is thicker than thethickness tin3 of the wiring layer 393. Therefore, the resistivity ofthe base material 491 made of metal is smaller than the resistivity ofthe wiring layer 393. The ground signal indicating the referencepotential of the drive circuit 50 and the drive signal output circuits51 a and 51 b is supplied to the base material 491 having such a smallresistivity, so that the operations of the drive circuit 50 and thedrive signal output circuits 51 a and 51 b can be further stabilized.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b according to the first embodiment describedabove, the description is made in which the drive signal output circuit51 a is mounted on the wiring substrate 400 included in the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 a, and the drive signal output circuit 51 bis mounted on the wiring substrate 400 included in the drive signaloutput circuit substrate 40 b, but the drive signal output circuit 51 aand the drive signal output circuit 51 b may be mounted on a commonwiring substrate. Even in this case, the same functions and effects asthose of the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal outputcircuit substrates 40 a and 40 b of the first embodiment can beobtained.

Further, the drive signal output circuit 51 a and the drive signaloutput circuit 51 b may be a common wiring substrate and may be mountedon the drive circuit substrate 30. In this case, when the base materialof the wiring substrate 300 is configured to include a metal, it ispossible to achieve the same functions and effects as the liquidejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuit substrates 40 aand 40 b of the first embodiment.

2. Second Embodiment

The liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b in the second embodiment are different from theliquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b of the first embodiment in that an insulationlayer, a wiring layer, and a protective layer is laminated on both facesof the base material 491 of the wiring substrate 400.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the wiringsubstrate 400 according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16 , the wiring substrate 400 according to the secondembodiment includes the base material 491, insulation layers 492-1 and492-2, wiring layers 493-1 and 493-2, and protective layers 494-1 and494-2. The insulation layer 492-1, the wiring layer 493-1, and theprotective layer 494-1 are laminated toward the face 495 of the basematerial 491, and the insulation layer 492-2, the wiring layer 493-2,and the protective layer 494-2 are laminated toward the face 496 of thebase material 491. That is, the wiring substrate 400 includes the wiringlayer 493-2 laminated on the face 496 opposite to the face 495 of thebase material 491, and the wiring layer 493-2 includes the wiringthrough which a signal different from a signal in the wiring included inthe wiring layer 493-1 laminated on the face 495 of the base material491 propagates.

The drive signal output circuit substrates 40 a and 40 b having thewiring substrate 400 configured as described above can have circuits andwires that constitutes the drive signal output circuits 51 a and 51 b onboth the face 495 and the face 496 of the base material 491. Therefore,the wiring substrate 400 of the drive signal output circuit substrates40 a and 40 b of the second embodiment can be downsized, compared withthat of the first embodiment.

That is, in the liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal outputcircuit substrates 40 a and 40 b in the second embodiment, the wiringsubstrate 400 included in the drive signal output circuit substrates 40a and 40 b can be downsized in addition to the functions and effects ofthe liquid ejecting apparatus 1 and the drive signal output circuitsubstrates 40 a and 40 b of the first embodiment.

Here, the face 495 of the base material 491 is an example of a firstface of the second embodiment, the face 496 is an example of a secondface of the second embodiment, the wiring layer 493-1 is an example of afirst layer of the second embodiment, and the wiring layer 493-2 is anexample of a second layer of the second embodiment. The wire included inthe wiring layer 493-1 is an example of a first propagation wire of thesecond embodiment, and the wire included in the wiring layer 493-2 is anexample of a second propagation wire of the second embodiment.

The following contents are derived from the above-described embodimentsand modifications.

An aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejectionhead including a drive element, where the liquid ejection head ejects aliquid by a supply of a drive signal to the drive element, and a drivecircuit that outputs the drive signal, wherein the drive circuitincludes a modulation circuit that modulates a base drive signal tooutput a modulation signal, an amplifier circuit that amplifies themodulation signal to output an amplified modulation signal, ademodulation circuit that demodulates the amplified modulation signal tooutput the drive signal, and a substrate on which the modulationcircuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuit areprovided, wherein the substrate includes a base material and a firstlayer laminated on a first face of the base material, wherein the basematerial includes a metal, wherein the first layer includes a firstpropagation wire through which at least one of the amplified modulationsignal and the drive signal propagates, and wherein the base materialhas a thickness greater than a thickness of the first layer.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the substrate on which themodulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuitare provided includes a base material that is thicker than the firstlayer including the first propagation wire and that includes a metalhaving excellent thermal conductivity, so that the heat generated in themodulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuitis efficiently released through the base material. That is, the heatgenerated in the drive circuit can be efficiently released.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the substrate may includea second layer laminated on a second face opposite to the first face ofthe base material, and wherein the second layer may include a secondpropagation wire through which a signal different from a signalpropagating through the first propagation wire propagates.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the substrate has a firstlayer including a first propagation wire, toward the first face of thebase material, on which at least one of an amplified modulation signaland a drive signal propagates, and a second layer including a secondpropagation wire, toward the second face side opposite to the first faceof the base material, on which a signal different from a signalpropagating through the first propagation wire propagates. As a result,the effective area where the circuit can be mounted on the substrate isincreased, and the substrate can be downsized while efficientlyreleasing the heat generated in the drive circuit.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, a ground signalindicating the reference potential of the drive circuit may be suppliedto the base material.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the ground potential issupplied to the base material that is thicker than the first layer andthat includes a metal having excellent thermal conductivity, so that theground potential can be stabilized while efficiently releasing the heatgenerated in the drive circuit.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the drive circuit mayinclude a relay circuit substrate electrically coupled to the substrateand relaying propagation of the drive signal to the liquid ejectionhead.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the drive circuit includesthe relay substrate electrically coupled to the substrate, so that it ispossible to position, at the relay substrate, the circuit structure thatgenerates a small amount of heat while releasing, from the substrate,the heat generated in the modulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, andthe demodulation circuit, which generate a large amount of heat.Therefore, it is possible to reduce an area in which a substrate havinga base material including a metal is used, and as a result, a cost ofthe substrate can be reduced, compared with a driver circuit constitutedby only a substrate having a base material including a metal.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the amplifier circuit maybe positioned so as to overlap at least part of the base material in adirection normal to the first face.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the base material includingmetal is positioned so as to overlap at least part of the amplifiercircuit, so that it is possible to efficiently release the heatgenerated in the amplifier circuit that generates a large amount ofheat.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the demodulation circuitmay be positioned so as to overlap at least part of the base material ina direction normal to the first face.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the base material includingmetal is positioned so as to overlap at least part of the demodulationcircuit, so that it is possible to efficiently release the heatgenerated in the demodulation circuit that generates a large amount ofheat.

In an aspect of the liquid ejecting apparatus, the base material mayinclude copper as the metal.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus, the metal included in thebase material is copper having excellent thermal conductivity, so thatthe heat generated in the drive circuit can be released moreefficiently.

An aspect of the circuit substrate includes a modulation circuit thatmodulates a base drive signal to output a modulation signal, anamplifier circuit that amplifies the modulation signal to output anamplified modulation signal, a demodulation circuit that demodulates theamplified modulation signal to output the drive signal, and a substrateon which the modulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and thedemodulation circuit are provided, wherein the substrate includes a basematerial and a first layer laminated on a first face of the basematerial, wherein the base material includes a metal, wherein the firstlayer includes a first propagation wire through which at least one ofthe amplified modulation signal and the drive signal propagates, andwherein the base material has a thickness greater than a thickness ofthe first layer.

According to the circuit substrate, the substrate on which themodulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuitare provided includes the base material that is thicker than the firstlayer including the first propagation wire and that includes a metalhaving excellent thermal conductivity, so that the heat generated in themodulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuitis efficiently released through the base material. That is, the heatgenerated in the drive circuit can be efficiently released.

The embodiments and the modifications have been described above, but thepresent disclosure is not limited to these embodiments andmodifications. It is possible to implement the present disclosure invarious aspects without departing from the gist thereof, and forexample, the embodiments and the modifications can be combinedappropriately.

The disclosure includes a configuration substantially same as theconfiguration described in the embodiments and the modifications (forexample, a configuration having the same function, method, and result,or a configuration having the same object and effect). Further, thedisclosure includes a configuration in which a non-essential part of theconfiguration described in the embodiments and the modifications isreplaced. Further, the disclosure includes a configuration having thesame functions and effects as the configuration described in theembodiments and the modifications or a configuration capable ofachieving the same object. Further, the disclosure includes aconfigurations in which known techniques are added to the configurationsdescribed in the embodiments and the modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a liquidejection head including a drive element, the liquid ejection headejecting a liquid by a supply of a drive signal to the drive element;and a drive circuit that outputs the drive signal, the drive circuitincluding a circuit substrate having a modulation circuit that modulatesa base drive signal to output a modulation signal, an amplifier circuitthat amplifies the modulation signal to output an amplified modulationsignal, a demodulation circuit that demodulates the amplified modulationsignal to output the drive signal, a substrate on which the modulationcircuit, the amplifier circuit, and the demodulation circuit areprovided, the substrate including a base material and a first layerlaminated on a first face of the base material, the base materialincluding a metal, and a relay circuit substrate electrically coupled tothe substrate and relaying propagation of the drive signal to the liquidejection head, the relay circuit substrate including a wiring substrateand a connector that is disposed on one surface of the wiring substrateand that has a concaved portion concaved in a direction parallel to theone surface of the wiring substrate, the circuit substrate beingdetachably coupled to the relay circuit substrate such that one part ofthe substrate is inserted into the concaved portion, and such that adifferent part of the substrate, which is different from the one part ofthe substrate, is spaced apart from the one surface of the wiringsubstrate via a spacer, the first layer including a first propagationwire through which at least one of the amplified modulation signal andthe drive signal propagates, and the base material having a thicknessgreater than a thickness of the first layer.
 2. The liquid ejectingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a secondlayer laminated on a second face opposite to the first face of the basematerial, and wherein the second layer includes a second propagationwire through which a signal different from a signal propagating throughthe first propagation wire propagates.
 3. The liquid ejecting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a ground signal indicating a referencepotential of the drive circuit is supplied to the base material.
 4. Theliquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amplifiercircuit is positioned so as to overlap at least part of the basematerial in a direction normal to the first face.
 5. The liquid ejectingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the demodulation circuit ispositioned so as to overlap at least part of the base material in adirection normal to the first face.
 6. The liquid ejecting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the base material includes copper as themetal.
 7. A circuit substrate comprising: a modulation circuit thatmodulates a base drive signal to output a modulation signal; anamplifier circuit that amplifies the modulation signal to output anamplified modulation signal; a demodulation circuit that demodulates theamplified modulation signal to output a drive signal; and a substrate onwhich the modulation circuit, the amplifier circuit, and thedemodulation circuit are provided, the substrate including a basematerial and a first layer laminated on a first face of the basematerial, the base material including a metal, the first layer includinga first propagation wire through which at least one of the amplifiedmodulation signal and the drive signal propagates, and the base materialhaving a thickness greater than a thickness of the first layer, thecircuit substrate being detachably coupled to a relay circuit substratethat is electrically coupled to the substrate, relays propagation of thedrive signal, and includes a wiring substrate and a connector which isdisposed on one surface of the wiring substrate and which has a concavedportion concaved in a direction parallel to the one surface of thewiring substrate, the circuit substrate being detachably coupled to therelay circuit substrate such that one part of the substrate is insertedinto the concaved portion, and such that a different part of thesubstrate, which is different from the one part of the substrate, isspaced apart from the one surface of the wiring substrate via a spacer.